Apocalypse
by mountaindewbottles
Summary: A quick story about a zombie horde and a survivor who makes a desperate bid to escape


Sweat beaded and dripped from my forehead onto my already filthy shirt, my heart exploding and beating out of control, my pulse increasing with every long stride I took. Fight or flight. The common phrase which seemed almost out of place in this surrealism was sprinting throughout my mind; almost as fast as my rushed breathing. I'd left my weapons and ammunition at base in my rush to escape, along with the false sense of security that somehow radiated from within the temporarily barricaded walls of the camp.

I wasn't sure as to how they'd managed to claw and push their way through the barriers but it slowly occurred to me that the undead may have been growing stronger in their hunger for my downfall.

As my thoughts raced through my mind I quickly realised my energy was rapidly depleting, but I soon found a target. Through the light mist I could make out some form of a saviour in the form of a brightly coloured range rover in the distance, it looked relatively unharmed which was surprising, especially after the mob had ripped through this ghost town.

I had to keep telling myself to focus on safety, and not to focus on my burning limbs or not to look back at the snarling, inhuman creatures pursuing me; not only would it slow me down, but I somehow knew that their dead, empty eyes would remind me of the family and friends I had once loved, and had regretfully lost. The mob were ruthless and instinctive, and from what little I had seen from this new, ravaged world; I was the only survivor.

It seemed like several miles before I reached the vehicle, but in reality it proved to only be a few hundred metres. As my full body weight slammed into the side of the car the cool metal of the car and the moisture which clung to it transferred to my skin and clothing, jolting my body and heightening my senses and making me more aware as the danger that was approaching me at an alarming rate. I quickly grabbed the icy cold handle and prayed it was open before pulling backwards with a new found force; it was heavy but the door noisily swung open and I quickly clambered inside before slamming it behind me.

As soon as the door closed the mob were already pressing themselves up against the windows and from what I could hear some of the stronger walkers were already on the roof. I noticed that placed on the passengers seat there was a gun; I picked it up delicately as the safety clip seemed to be broken, and on closer inspection I learned it was a fully loaded .44 handgun, and before I'd had a chance to even put the gun away I heard an animalistic growl radiate from the back seat behind me. I quickly spun around to find that the owner of this car hadn't necessarily left and had been savaged in the backseat, a chunk of neck was missing and several other open wounds were seeping still; the smell was so overwhelming that I wondered how I didn't notice it before. As soon as the yellow, creamy coloured eyes of the creature locked onto mine, an almost instinctive reaction caused me to fire two shots directly at the head, one hit directly between the eyes, making sure this member of the undead was really dead and splattering the dirty crimson emitted from the non moving veins of the creature against the back window and white leather seats.

The shock of the gunshots to my own senses almost stopped me realising that the second shot I'd fired had missed and gone through the back window screen, shattering a small hole into the fragile surface, which was quickly filled with desperate, torn hands yearning for something to grab onto, riled on by the sound of the gunshot. As I gradually realised my mistake I turned, clicked the seatbelt and slammed my foot down on the acceleration pedal as hard as I could. The engine roared and jolted forwards, catapulting any zombies around the car in various directions; but I kept my foot on the pedal, knocking down a good few members of the mob, and didn't stop until I reached the motorway.

When I got around five miles into motorway, and was sure I was completely safe, I stopped the engine to sit and think. Every drop of fuel counted and I had many options to consider, I hadn't got any supplies and these were a necessity to live even without the undead stalking your every move, I needed to find somewhere safe and protected. I stared at my tortured surroundings that was now cluttered with crashed cars and dismantled limbs and thought back to how life was before the virus had begun to spread; how the undead were only a thing that existed within movies, tv programmes and the odd fanfiction. I miss the times when I could go outside with people I knew and cared about without the fear of being ravaged and torn apart by people I used to know. I breathed in deeply and realised the stagnant smell that still hung in the air from my extra passenger who was now slumped against the door, staring at me with its milky eyes like a china doll.

I grabbed the handgun, and left the car, being wary of my surroundings and making sure there were not any stray flesh eaters roaming the roads. When I was sure the coast was clear, I opened the back door of the car and let the body fall to the ground, killing was not something I'd ever get used to, even if the undead were already dead. The thought that they used to be people too scared me, and I tried not to think into it too much.

I slammed the door and looked around again, it had been a week since the virus had first struck which mean that any resources or foods would probably still be edible if the other vehicles were full. I checked several dozen cars and found tinned foods and bottled water, which would keep me healthy for a few days; I then stared through the fog that had lifted since the sun rose, and around two hundred yards away I spotted a delivery lorry.

After storing what I'd already found in the back of my range rover I went to investigate, banging on the sides and undoing the locks slowly, I withdrew my gun and quickly opened the door, aiming inside. As soon as I opened the door the smell of fresh food hit me, the lorry was filled with fresh and tinned foods, canned and bottled drinks. These had long been forgotten to me and these were luxuries I couldn't afford to waste. I took what I needed and loaded my van until it couldn't hold any more and finally thought about what next.

I had found a map in one of the cars, and I knew from natural instinct that I should stay away from crowded cities, more mobs were to be avoided and it would be too much to handle if I went back to my old home. After around an hour of searching, I found an old hall, Those places tended to be secure and the fact that it was isolated made it a perfect place to set up and hide until some form of communication could be made, if there was anybody else out there; but I would wait till the morning, the exhaustion already setting in my limbs from the chase that had taken place earlier that day, and I was exhausted. Sure that I was safe in my new, temporary home, I closed my eyes and dreamt of a better future.

I was awoken the next morning by a loud banging on the window and muffled shouting, my natural reflex was to pull out my gun, but I quickly realised there was no mob outside my window but a terrified looking woman, her eyes red and streaming with tears and a look of pure terror on her face. I quickly signalled to the passenger seat and unlocked the door and within seconds the unknown woman was sat in my van, crying her eyes out.

After she had calmed down enough for me to understand what she was saying, she explained that she'd seen me in my car whilst running, some of a small horde had followed her, and that she was scared, the virus had only hit her town a couple of days ago but she had already heard rumours of quarantined zones and safe areas, free from the virus that murdered its victims. I gave her sustenance to help her recover and the next day we left to find the safe houses, contented with each others company; we were all each other had, and for now that was enough.


End file.
